


A Mother's Embrace

by EdamamiTomoe



Category: Disgaea (Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, i don't really know how else to tag this tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-07-08 00:29:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19860553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdamamiTomoe/pseuds/EdamamiTomoe
Summary: Laharl finds himself in his mother's embrace once again, and opens up about his feelings.





	A Mother's Embrace

A moment of respite in the castle didn’t come very often for Laharl, not when he’s the overlord, and has been for hundreds of years now. There’s always some hustle and bustle about, managing his vassals, taking care of his realm, going on expeditions, that it was rare for there to be a moment when the overlord was truly left alone to his own devices, for him to enjoy the ambience of silence.

Although he soon found this silence broken again, this time Laharl found it to be not an intrusive sound, but rather a familiar tune. A soft humming of a tune long forgotten. A lullaby? Perhaps. Curious about where the humming is coming from, the overlord followed the sound into an older part of the castle.

As he followed the sound of song, Laharl found himself wondering when he had heard this tune before. It’s most definitely a song he’s heard before somewhere, one that tugged at his heartstrings in a way only few have before. It seemed to fill him with both overwhelming joy and sadness at the same time, as it was sung by a voice that embodied both love and sorrow.

Nearing the source of the humming, he’s suddenly hit with the realization that he’s found himself in a familiar corner of the castle, one he has spent his childhood in. That’s right, this was definitely where he spent much of his days as a small child, before his father passed away, before his mother…

...who was right there.

Turning the corner, Laharl found himself in the old abandoned nursery room once again, and his mother seated upon the bed, her legs crossed, humming the lullaby as she read from one of her old tomes.

“...Mom?”

Laharl could barely believe who was before his eyes. He was certain that his mother had passed on. Perhaps this was her reincarnation? It has been quite a long time since she has died, it was possible that she had reincarnated once again and returned to see him. Although, that still seemed unlikely. All doubts and questions he had, though, disappeared the moment his mother looked up at him and smiled that familiar smile, and spoke.

“Laharl, there you are! Come here, your mom has missed you.”

As of lulled by her words, Laharl stepped forward, as his mother put away her book, uncrossed her legs, and opened up her arms. Although he was at first unsure of what to do, having gone for about a thousand years without having had real physical affection, he quickly found himself once again in his mother’s lap, within her loving embrace, as if he was a child once again.

“Mom, I…” He began, but then stopped. He still couldn’t tell if this was real, but if it wasn’t, he didn’t want to ruin the moment for himself. He had secretly longed for this for so long that he wasn’t willing to let doubt break the experience for him.

“Did you miss me, Laharl?” His mom asked in a sweet and comforting voice, one that soothed him like no other voice has, as she gently rocked him in her arms, “It’s been so long since we’ve been together…”

“I… I did.” Unused to being earnest with his feelings, and being open about his emotions at all, Laharl spoke, a weird feeling in his throat failing to prevent him from being honest with his mother, “I… I didn’t realize how much I missed you until… until I heard your singing.”

“Hehe.” His mother seemed for a moment like she was going to elabourate on her singing, but then stopped herself. Instead, she simply contented herself with cradling her child in her arms and gently rocking him as if he was a baby, even though he’s by now a teenager. “You’ve grown so much since I’ve last seen you, Laharl. You’ve really come a long way as an overlord, hmm?”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Laharl mumbled, embarrassed at the fact that he’s being spoken to like this, but moreso at the fact that he was humbled before his mother into speaking modestly, when under usual circumstances he would have been giving a haughty and arrogant answer instead.

When he realized this, he tried to put up his tough usual front again, and said, “Yeah, of course! I did say I’d become an even better overlord than my old man! In fact, I’ve been so wicked and evil in my ways that I even compensate the prinnies fairly now! Heh, it’s absolutely unheard of how twisted I am!”

“I’m sure, I’m sure~ You really are on your way to becoming the most wicked overlord, aren’t you, Laharl?” His mother giggled at hearing his proud proclamations, which immediately made Laharl blush out of embarrassment at how much he was being babied. Not that he minded though. No one else in the world would give him this kind of attention. “Hehe, that angel friend of yours, Flonne… you’ve really taken to her messages of love and compassion, hmm?”

“L-love? Me? Hmph! Absolutely not!” Although that was his immediate reaction to being asked such a question, Laharl immediately regretted it, remembering who he was talking to. Looking down at his own hands to avoid eye contact, he mumbled, “...Yeah. Not that… I would ever admit it… to anyone else.”

“That’s okay. Love is what you show in action, after all, rather than just speak with words.” His mother smiled sweetly at his honesty and planted a kiss to his forehead, an act that almost made the teenage overlord jump, if it wasn’t for how relaxed he had become in his mother’s embrace. “It does make me happy though… that my own son has taken so well to love. I know you can be stubborn, but you do show love in your own ways, don’t you?”

“Don’t be absurd…” Normally that was something he would have said with a hmph, but this time, Laharl’s tone was simply embarrassed, rather than offended. But then, realizing that there was no use hiding his emotions from his own mother, he admitted, “...I guess. But I have appearances to keep up with! I can’t just… I’m not like Flonne, I can’t just go around talking about love. People will think I’m crazy.”

“And that’s okay. You don’t have to be.” His mother reassured, her rocking slowing to a stop as she simply cuddled with her son in her arms, “After all, didn’t your father also have his own ways of showing love? To you, to Etna, to all of his subjects…”

“...Yeah, you’re right.” Laharl looked up at his mother, suddenly realizing how tired and sleepy he had become. Not wanting to let sleep take away from the time he’s able to spend with his mother though, he tried to fight the sleepiness by talking more, unknowingly breaking his own stubbornness about withholding his feelings. “Maybe… maybe I should show Flonne… love more though. She’s… she’s done so much for me.”

“Hmhm, you and her are the knot that binds the Netherworld and Celestia together, after all.” His mother’s smile seemed so distant now, as his vision started to blur, but her warm and loving presence still felt right by his side. “It certainly wouldn’t hurt to, would it?”

“No, no it wouldn’t…” Finding it difficult to keep his eyelids opened, Laharl clung onto his mother tightly, not wanting to fall asleep. “Mom… I want you to stay with me… I don’t want you to go. I missed you so much…”

“Don’t worry, Laharl. I’ll be right here with you. I’ll always be right here with you, Laharl.”

“Mom…”

“After all, I love you so much, Laharl…”

\---

Laharl woke up, finding himself back in his room, in his bed. It’s quiet in the castle, with not even the sound of song, and it’s bright out. He sat up in bed and stretched, wondering for a moment if it was all just a dream. It must have been, his mother was gone, and she couldn’t have been in the castle with him.

And yet, he still felt the warmth of her embrace… 

Trying not to think too much of it, he got out of bed and left the room. He figured, since it was the morning, he might as well get himself ready for the day.

In the corridors of the castle, he crossed paths with a familiar fallen angel, who gave him a smile and a, “Good morning, Laharl! Did you sleep well?”

Staring at Flonne for a moment, and remembering what he talked about with his mother, he considered for a moment being opened, but then quickly shut himself down again. It was probably too much to do that. So he just gave a usual answer, “Hmph, of course! I wish I could have slept for 2 years!”

“Hehehe.” Flonne simply giggled at this answer, before moving onto other topics, “You ready for another day of overlording over your vassals?”

“Of course.”

As the two made small talk about the usual topics chatted about in the morning, Laharl’s mind just kept going back to his mother, to his dream, to Flonne, the love freak who has now dedicated herself to teaching other demons about love and kindness. It’s true, she’s been such a huge part of his life for a while now, and they’ve always been close friends, and yet, it feels like they’ve just been dancing around a certain topic forever now, never really breaching it. Maybe…

“...Flonne?”

“Hmm? What is it Laharl?”

“Um…” He swallowed, nervous about opening up like this to anyone other than his mother. He could already feel himself sweating just thinking about what he was going to say. “...Th-thank… uhh… thank you for… everything you’ve done… I… I really a-appreciate… gahh! I can’t finish this!” 

“Awww, Laharl!” Despite his choppy delivery and his inability to finish his sentence, Flonne still seemed delighted at this new development, and at his honesty. Excited, she flung herself at him, hugging him tightly, “Hehe, of course! I’m always happy to be by your side!”

“G-gaahh! L-let go of me! Let go of me!” Laharl flailed, not having expected this sudden deluge of physical affection and positivity he was entirely unprepared for, trying in vain to pry the fallen angel off of him, “Y-you trying to k-kill me-!? Don’t say such… s-such positive and happy things!”

“Hehehe, oops.” Letting go of him, but still keeping her hands holding his, Flonne gave him a bit dumb smile, as she momentarily forgot about his weakness to optimism, “Still, I am very happy! And I will continue to do my best!”

“U-ugh, yeah…” Laharl grimaced at the positive statement once again as he recomposed himself. 

As he watched Flonne head off to her usual duties, Laharl realized that he wasn’t even able to say anything he remotely wanted to, only managing to give a thanks. And yet, even that alone was far too difficult. Maybe… just one step at a time, yeah. One step at a time. Someday, he’ll be able to finally tell her his feelings in full, just like he did with his mother.


End file.
